What Can Parents Do?

"People seldom improve when they have no other model but themselves to copy."Oliver Goldsmith

Encourage Healthy Eating Habits

Limit television viewing time to one to two hours per day.
Encourage your child to participate in sports and physical play as often as possible. This will help your child burn calories.
Make healthy meals, increase the use of fruits and vegetables for meals and snacks.
Encourage your child to drink water and limit availability of sugared drinks.
Ask schools to provide children healthy meals and snacks at school.

Look For Ways to Make Favorite Dishes Healthier

Cook with your kids.
Eat together as a family
Involve your children in meal planning, shopping, and preparation. Use this time to discuss nutrition, discover your child's preferences and what food they may or may not be prepared to try. Encourage but do not force them to try new foods.

Teach Moderation

All foods can be healthy in moderation. Avoid labeling foods as "good" or "bad".
Serve reasonable portion sizes.
Avoid using sweets as rewards.
Promote healthy lifestyles, not a certain weight.
Avoid restricting junk foods. Parental restriction of junk food leads to uninhibited eating of these foods when the parent is not present and interferes with the child's abilities to self-regulate their weight (Clark, Goyder, Bissell, Blank, & Peters, 2007).